For more examples and citation help, see the MLA OWL.
Tuesday, April 24, 2012
Monday, April 16, 2012
Research Paper Documents and Resources
Outline generator: http://www.crlsresearchguide.org/outlineinput.asp
Example outline:
http://bcs.bedfordstmartins.com/pdfs/Hacker-Levi-MLA-Out.pdf
Annotated bibliography instructions and example:
To create your annotated bibliography, simply open a Word document on your computer and keep it open as you search the TEL and other sources online. When you find a useful source, copy and paste ALL of the citation information you will need (in the TEL, use the citation tools box to create an MLA citation and then copy and paste it into your bibliography. Under the citation information, copy and paste any chunk of the text you think will be useful in writing your paper. You won’t end up using all of the information word-for-word, but the bibliography will put all possibly useful information in one place and make it easier for you to write the paper. The day you bring the bibliography to class, we will spend time highlighting and making notes to further process the information and decide what might go into the paper.
Example: This is what your annotated bibliography should look like. For my example, I found sources for a paper on possible causes of the Salem witch trials.
Annotated Bibliography
Possible Causes of the Salem Witch Trials
“The body, for its part, also entangled women. Puritans believed that Satanattacked the soul by assaulting the body, and that because women's bodies wereweaker, the devil could each women's souls more easily, breaching these "weakervessels" with greater frequency. Not only was the body the means towardpossessing the soul, it was the very expression of the devil's attack. Amongwitches, the body clearly manifested the soul's acceptance of the diabolicalcovenant. Women were in a double bind during witchcraft episodes. Their souls, strictlyspeaking, were no more evil than those of men, but the representation of thevulnerable, unsatisfied, and yearning female soul, passively waiting for Christ butalways ready to succumb to the devil, inadvertently implicated corporeal womenthemselves.(2) The representation of the soul in terms of worldly genderarrangements, and the understanding of women in terms of the characteristics ofthe feminine soul, in a circular fashion led Puritans to imagine that women weremore likely than men to submit to Satan. A woman's feminine soul, jeopardized ina woman's feminine body, was frail, submissive, and passive-qualities that mostNew Englanders thought would allow her to become either a wife to Christ or adrudge to Satan.
2. Salem Witchcraft Trials 1692. (n.d.) University of Missouri Kansas City school of Law. Retrieved November 1, 2011 http://law2.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ftrials/salem/salem.htm
Chronology: January 20, 1692: Eleven-year old Abigail Williams and nine-year-old Elizabeth Parris begin behaving much as the Goodwin children acted four years earlier. Soon Ann Putnam Jr. and other Salem girls begin acting similarly.
3. Misogyny, ergot, or envy? The Salem witch-trials. (1992, May 16). The Economist [US], 323(7759), A31. Retrieved November 1, 2011 from http://go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do?&id=GALE%7CA12246559&v=2.1&u=tel_s_tsla&it=r&p=GPS&sw=w
“Feminists see the frenzy as part of the misogyny of Puritan culture, and the witch-hunts as a backlash against unconventional women--or those climbing the economic ladder. Carol Karlsen's "The Devil in the Shape of a Woman" finds that most of those accused in New England's witch-hunts also stood to inherit property. Racial interpretations see in Salem a colonial outpost where the slave Tituba embodied white fears of alien peoples in an unconquered continent. Religious and political historians are having their say, too. The two of Salem was becoming prosperous (and secular) more quickly than the surrounding rural areas. Rivalries had developed, and the charges of witchcraft, which came first from the poorer, more devout countryside, helped to feed the tension. Massachusetts had lost its charter in 1684, and the next eight years were marked by political uncertainty. As hysteria mounted in the first months of 1692, the colony was still waiting for a new administration and the Salem magistrates had no authority to prosecute the accused. The climate was ripe for an emotional eruption, and here medical science steps in. Some physicians suspect that the outbursts of the stricken girls were symptoms of "post-traumatic stress syndrome", induced by the drudgery of daily life or perhaps by abuse from stern parents.
4. Baker, J. P. (2011). A grain to blame? Calliope, 21(9), July/August. Retrieved November 1. 2011 from http://go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do?&id=GALE%7CA267032566&v=2.1&u=tel_s_tsla&it=r&p=GPS&sw=w
“Why did this event occur, and why were the people of Salem so ready to believe what now seems to be such an absurd story of witchcraft? Today, many believe that the accused were targeted for financial reasons. Many of them were generally better off than their accusers and. in many cases, families that accused individuals of being witches stood to inherit property from those charged with the crime. There is also a belief that many of the accusers were upset about the new preacher, Samuel Parris, and sought revenge for his moving to the village. In 1976, historian Linnda Caporael suggested that perhaps a naturally occurring hallucinogen could be an explanation for this dark moment of history. Her theory maintains that something called ergot poisoning may have caused the hysteria. The plant disease ergot is the result of a mold that grows on grain. For centuries, farmers knew of this toxic mold but assumed it was harmless.”
Topics, instructions, and deadlines
Due Date: Friday, May 4
Example outline:
http://bcs.bedfordstmartins.com/pdfs/Hacker-Levi-MLA-Out.pdf
Annotated bibliography instructions and example:
To create your annotated bibliography, simply open a Word document on your computer and keep it open as you search the TEL and other sources online. When you find a useful source, copy and paste ALL of the citation information you will need (in the TEL, use the citation tools box to create an MLA citation and then copy and paste it into your bibliography. Under the citation information, copy and paste any chunk of the text you think will be useful in writing your paper. You won’t end up using all of the information word-for-word, but the bibliography will put all possibly useful information in one place and make it easier for you to write the paper. The day you bring the bibliography to class, we will spend time highlighting and making notes to further process the information and decide what might go into the paper.
Example: This is what your annotated bibliography should look like. For my example, I found sources for a paper on possible causes of the Salem witch trials.
Annotated Bibliography
Possible Causes of the Salem Witch Trials
1. Reis, Elizabeth. (1995). The devil, the body, and the feminine soul in puritan New England. The Journal of American History. Retrieved November 1, 2011 from http://lonestar.texas.net/~mseifert/devil.html
“The body, for its part, also entangled women. Puritans believed that Satanattacked the soul by assaulting the body, and that because women's bodies wereweaker, the devil could each women's souls more easily, breaching these "weakervessels" with greater frequency. Not only was the body the means towardpossessing the soul, it was the very expression of the devil's attack. Amongwitches, the body clearly manifested the soul's acceptance of the diabolicalcovenant. Women were in a double bind during witchcraft episodes. Their souls, strictlyspeaking, were no more evil than those of men, but the representation of thevulnerable, unsatisfied, and yearning female soul, passively waiting for Christ butalways ready to succumb to the devil, inadvertently implicated corporeal womenthemselves.(2) The representation of the soul in terms of worldly genderarrangements, and the understanding of women in terms of the characteristics ofthe feminine soul, in a circular fashion led Puritans to imagine that women weremore likely than men to submit to Satan. A woman's feminine soul, jeopardized ina woman's feminine body, was frail, submissive, and passive-qualities that mostNew Englanders thought would allow her to become either a wife to Christ or adrudge to Satan.
2. Salem Witchcraft Trials 1692. (n.d.) University of Missouri Kansas City school of Law. Retrieved November 1, 2011 http://law2.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ftrials/salem/salem.htm
Chronology: January 20, 1692: Eleven-year old Abigail Williams and nine-year-old Elizabeth Parris begin behaving much as the Goodwin children acted four years earlier. Soon Ann Putnam Jr. and other Salem girls begin acting similarly.
Mid-February, 1692: Doctor Griggs, who attends to the "afflicted" girls, suggests that witchcraft may be the cause of their strange behavior.
February 25, 1692: Tituba, at the request of neighbor Mary Sibley, bakes a "witch cake" and feeds it to a dog. According to an English folk remedy, feeding a dog this kind of cake, which contained the urine of the afflicted, would counteract the spell put on Elizabeth and Abigail. The reason the cake is fed to a dog is because the dog is believed a "familiar" of the Devil.
Late-February, 1692: Pressured by ministers and townspeople to say who caused her odd behavior, Elizabeth identifies Tituba. The girls later accuse Sarah Good and Sarah Osborne of witchcraft.
February 29, 1692: Arrest warrants are issued for Tituba, Sarah Good and Sarah Osborne.
February 25, 1692: Tituba, at the request of neighbor Mary Sibley, bakes a "witch cake" and feeds it to a dog. According to an English folk remedy, feeding a dog this kind of cake, which contained the urine of the afflicted, would counteract the spell put on Elizabeth and Abigail. The reason the cake is fed to a dog is because the dog is believed a "familiar" of the Devil.
Late-February, 1692: Pressured by ministers and townspeople to say who caused her odd behavior, Elizabeth identifies Tituba. The girls later accuse Sarah Good and Sarah Osborne of witchcraft.
February 29, 1692: Arrest warrants are issued for Tituba, Sarah Good and Sarah Osborne.
3. Misogyny, ergot, or envy? The Salem witch-trials. (1992, May 16). The Economist [US], 323(7759), A31. Retrieved November 1, 2011 from http://go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do?&id=GALE%7CA12246559&v=2.1&u=tel_s_tsla&it=r&p=GPS&sw=w
“Feminists see the frenzy as part of the misogyny of Puritan culture, and the witch-hunts as a backlash against unconventional women--or those climbing the economic ladder. Carol Karlsen's "The Devil in the Shape of a Woman" finds that most of those accused in New England's witch-hunts also stood to inherit property. Racial interpretations see in Salem a colonial outpost where the slave Tituba embodied white fears of alien peoples in an unconquered continent. Religious and political historians are having their say, too. The two of Salem was becoming prosperous (and secular) more quickly than the surrounding rural areas. Rivalries had developed, and the charges of witchcraft, which came first from the poorer, more devout countryside, helped to feed the tension. Massachusetts had lost its charter in 1684, and the next eight years were marked by political uncertainty. As hysteria mounted in the first months of 1692, the colony was still waiting for a new administration and the Salem magistrates had no authority to prosecute the accused. The climate was ripe for an emotional eruption, and here medical science steps in. Some physicians suspect that the outbursts of the stricken girls were symptoms of "post-traumatic stress syndrome", induced by the drudgery of daily life or perhaps by abuse from stern parents.
4. Baker, J. P. (2011). A grain to blame? Calliope, 21(9), July/August. Retrieved November 1. 2011 from http://go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do?&id=GALE%7CA267032566&v=2.1&u=tel_s_tsla&it=r&p=GPS&sw=w
“Why did this event occur, and why were the people of Salem so ready to believe what now seems to be such an absurd story of witchcraft? Today, many believe that the accused were targeted for financial reasons. Many of them were generally better off than their accusers and. in many cases, families that accused individuals of being witches stood to inherit property from those charged with the crime. There is also a belief that many of the accusers were upset about the new preacher, Samuel Parris, and sought revenge for his moving to the village. In 1976, historian Linnda Caporael suggested that perhaps a naturally occurring hallucinogen could be an explanation for this dark moment of history. Her theory maintains that something called ergot poisoning may have caused the hysteria. The plant disease ergot is the result of a mold that grows on grain. For centuries, farmers knew of this toxic mold but assumed it was harmless.”
Topics, instructions, and deadlines
Due Date: Friday, May 4
**NO LATE PAPERS WILL BE ACCEPTED!!** If you are absent, your paper is STILL DUE! Email it to alleykm@mcsk12.net if necessary.
Your research paper this year will address a debatable topic. You will need to move beyond simple reporting and summarizing of information and begin to explore more complex questions as you assert your argument and then support it.
Below is a list of suggested topics. You may choose your own topic not on this list, but ONLY with my prior approval. I will not accept a paper on a non-approved topic. Your paper must be at least 6 pages long in MLA style (double spaced, 12-point font).
You will be required to use a minimum of four sources, three of which must be a book or academic journal. No more than one source can be a website (material that has been first published in a book or magazine but is also available on-line will be considered in its original form). The Tennessee Electronic Library is an excellent source of material and I strongly suggest that you use it to find sources. Plagiarism will result in a zero! Cite all sources correctly!
Topics:
1. When Zora Neale Hurston first published her novel Their Eyes Were Watching God, many black writers of the day (Harlem Renaissance) criticized and hated the book because they said it made black people look uneducated and embarrassing. Explore these criticisms and the people they came from as well as those who supported Hurston, then argue either that the novel does or does not offer a valid perspective on the experience of at least some African-Americans during that time.
2. Bullying is a hot topic in educational law these days. Several states have passed legislation that helps prevent bullying, but a few have passed laws that actually protect the bullies in some circumstances. Explore this issue by researching recent legislation across the country and some of the outcomes, then write a paper in which you support a specific approach to the bullying problem in schools. (Recommended reading: “One Town’s War on Gay Teens,” Rolling Stone magazine, available at http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/news/one-towns-war-on-gay-teens-20120202)
3. What do you think is the number one issue facing young people in America today? Write a paper in which you assert that this is the most important problem, support this assertion with researched source material, and discuss solutions for the problems: both those proposed by others and your own ideas.
4. A Raisin in the Sun addresses the issue of racial integration in previously all-white areas. Is this still an issue today in some areas of the country? In your own city? Research this issue and write a paper in which you argue that integration is or is not an ongoing issue in America, supporting your position with your research. Discuss possible solutions if you argue that it is still an issue.
Research Paper Deadlines
Each of these deadlines represents an assignment that will count as a grade. Meeting deadlines means turning things in ON TIME.
1. Thursday, April 6: Topic confirmation. Write one paragraph about the topic you have chosen, explaining the position you plan to take on the topic (what your argument will be). Explain the types of sources you hope to find and where you will look for them. We will write this in class, but come in knowing what your topic will be.
2. Monday, April 16: Annotated bibliography. This is a list of your sources, along with copied and pasted text and/or notes from each source that you think will be useful in your paper. All copied and pasted text must be highlighted, underlined, annotated, etc. to show that you have read and thought about the information and how it applies to your topic. We will spend one class period going over the annotated bibliography method.
3. Monday, April 23: Rough draft of introductory paragraph with thesis statement plus complete outline. Go ahead and write your introductory paragraph, the last sentence of which is your thesis statement. Remember, your thesis should clearly state your position/argument on the topic. Then completely outline the rest of the paper. In order to fill six pages, you really need to plan what you will talk about in each paragraph. Make a note of each place you plan to include material from your sources.
4. Friday, May 4: Final Paper Due!! Paper must be a minimum of six pages typed, double-spaced, in 12-point font. You must follow MLA style guidelines (see additional handout). You must use in-text citations each time you use source material, regardless of whether you quote it directly or paraphrase. Each source you include on your works cited page must also appear as an in-text citation at least once in the paper.
Late papers will not be accepted, period. No exceptions. If you are absent May 4, your paper is still due. Email to alleykm@mcsk12.net if neces
Your research paper this year will address a debatable topic. You will need to move beyond simple reporting and summarizing of information and begin to explore more complex questions as you assert your argument and then support it.
Below is a list of suggested topics. You may choose your own topic not on this list, but ONLY with my prior approval. I will not accept a paper on a non-approved topic. Your paper must be at least 6 pages long in MLA style (double spaced, 12-point font).
You will be required to use a minimum of four sources, three of which must be a book or academic journal. No more than one source can be a website (material that has been first published in a book or magazine but is also available on-line will be considered in its original form). The Tennessee Electronic Library is an excellent source of material and I strongly suggest that you use it to find sources. Plagiarism will result in a zero! Cite all sources correctly!
Topics:
1. When Zora Neale Hurston first published her novel Their Eyes Were Watching God, many black writers of the day (Harlem Renaissance) criticized and hated the book because they said it made black people look uneducated and embarrassing. Explore these criticisms and the people they came from as well as those who supported Hurston, then argue either that the novel does or does not offer a valid perspective on the experience of at least some African-Americans during that time.
2. Bullying is a hot topic in educational law these days. Several states have passed legislation that helps prevent bullying, but a few have passed laws that actually protect the bullies in some circumstances. Explore this issue by researching recent legislation across the country and some of the outcomes, then write a paper in which you support a specific approach to the bullying problem in schools. (Recommended reading: “One Town’s War on Gay Teens,” Rolling Stone magazine, available at http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/news/one-towns-war-on-gay-teens-20120202)
3. What do you think is the number one issue facing young people in America today? Write a paper in which you assert that this is the most important problem, support this assertion with researched source material, and discuss solutions for the problems: both those proposed by others and your own ideas.
4. A Raisin in the Sun addresses the issue of racial integration in previously all-white areas. Is this still an issue today in some areas of the country? In your own city? Research this issue and write a paper in which you argue that integration is or is not an ongoing issue in America, supporting your position with your research. Discuss possible solutions if you argue that it is still an issue.
Research Paper Deadlines
Each of these deadlines represents an assignment that will count as a grade. Meeting deadlines means turning things in ON TIME.
1. Thursday, April 6: Topic confirmation. Write one paragraph about the topic you have chosen, explaining the position you plan to take on the topic (what your argument will be). Explain the types of sources you hope to find and where you will look for them. We will write this in class, but come in knowing what your topic will be.
2. Monday, April 16: Annotated bibliography. This is a list of your sources, along with copied and pasted text and/or notes from each source that you think will be useful in your paper. All copied and pasted text must be highlighted, underlined, annotated, etc. to show that you have read and thought about the information and how it applies to your topic. We will spend one class period going over the annotated bibliography method.
3. Monday, April 23: Rough draft of introductory paragraph with thesis statement plus complete outline. Go ahead and write your introductory paragraph, the last sentence of which is your thesis statement. Remember, your thesis should clearly state your position/argument on the topic. Then completely outline the rest of the paper. In order to fill six pages, you really need to plan what you will talk about in each paragraph. Make a note of each place you plan to include material from your sources.
4. Friday, May 4: Final Paper Due!! Paper must be a minimum of six pages typed, double-spaced, in 12-point font. You must follow MLA style guidelines (see additional handout). You must use in-text citations each time you use source material, regardless of whether you quote it directly or paraphrase. Each source you include on your works cited page must also appear as an in-text citation at least once in the paper.
Late papers will not be accepted, period. No exceptions. If you are absent May 4, your paper is still due. Email to alleykm@mcsk12.net if neces
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